How many ENWorld pbp games make it longer than three months?

Whizbang Dustyboots · Oct 20, 2006

I just noticed a bunch of pbp games I didn't get into are dead, which means that I missed out on, realistically, three or four encounters tops, out of megamodules or complete adventure paths.

And looking at the Playing the Game board, it doesn't look like there's a lot of threads older than three months. Is this always the case, or is this a recent phenomenon?

Is there anything in particular that kills off most of these threads, or are they each a unique snowflake of thread death?

And is there anything that can be done to see that pbp games at LEAST make it to the end of a single adventure?

Rystil Arden · Oct 20, 2006

#1 cause of adventure death: The GM drops. I've seen this time and again. Sometimes the former GM keeps playing in other games but just drops the game they are GMing. Other times the former GM just leaves ENWorld forever.

#2 cause of adventure death: Players vanish. Players vanish at about the same rate as GMs, but usually an adventure can recover from the attrition of lost players. Eventually, though, it can get ridiculous, and losing enough players or the wrong players (the lynchpin ones that posted consistently and kept things moving) can destroy the game. This is far less common than GMs dropping though.

Rhun · Oct 20, 2006

I absolutely agree with RA...DMs disappearing are the main cause of PBP death. They just seem to just vanish into thin air, as do players from time to time. Over the last 6-8 months I've probably joined over 20 games, and not a single one of them has lasted more then a few months (other than the two I am DMing).

I really can't figure it out. I mean, I understand that real life gets in the way sometimes, but how hard is it to get online for an hour or two a week? I mean, one or two posts a week will keep a game going...not quickly, but it will keep a game going. I am really considering only joing PBP games that are run by long-time DMs from now on. It takes too much effort to create a character to have the game drop after a month or two.

Rystil Arden · Oct 20, 2006

One way to avoid the problem of GM dropping is Living ENWorld, which has back-up Judges who will GM when the GM disappears. This is good because one of my LEW characters has never been in an adventure where the GM did not disappear. In general, GM vanishing is such a big problem that although I joined nearly as many games as I started as a GM, I am left with a huge number of games I'm GMing and very few as a player

Rhun · Oct 20, 2006

I'll have to look into LEW...and it looks like I'll have to sneak into one of your games one of these days, RA!

I'm also considering starting up a couple more of my own to, just to get my gaming fix.

Azaar · Oct 20, 2006

That, admittedly, is part of why I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and take a stab at DMing: I was in several games where the DM vanished (one DM due to RL, which I have no problem with, because you have to put RL first -- another DM dumped another game I was in without warning, griped when we asked what was going on, and promised to pick the game back up... and never did because he was already recruiting for another game; I felt sorry for that group, especially now as I see that same DM has started yet another game after yet another crash and burn).

I'm right now in two games (one of them questionable, as I'd gotten so into recruiting for the Star Wars game I'm going to run that I hadn't posted in four or five days and suddenly found myself drummed out -- odd, considering the DM went for well over a week without making a post at all, but I'm waiting to see whether I can get back into that game), and have tried out for a solo game that Isida Kep'Tukari beat me out on with a superior submission of her own.

Past that... there's not been much that I've been interested in. I'd been planning to try for one game, but I don't know if it will ever get off the ground, and I just haven't seen anything that really grabs me. Maybe if Tokiwong does a nWoD Vampire game, I may bite (no pun intended).

Rystil Arden · Oct 20, 2006

Isida Kep'Tukari beat me out on with a superior submission of her own.

Yup, Isida's something special. It was sad when RL called and she had to leave, but at least she is back now, though less prolific than before (she was running even more games than I am way back when).

Azaar · Oct 20, 2006

*nods* She wrote my favorite fan-created prestige class for D&D: the Bondblade. Outstanding work -- far better than the attempts I made at trying to convert some of the kits from the Complete Book of Necromancers into prestige classes over at the WOTC forums.

Isida Kep'Tukari · Oct 20, 2006

You guys are making me blush.

As you can see from my extremely outdated PbP sig, I joined literally dozens of games during my most prolific years, and over half of them were in the Dead or Dying category by the time I had to leave, and more should have been there.

DMs do have a tendency to vanish, that seems to be the cause of more PbP deaths than player dropout. There's always new players if you find a way to fit their characters in, DMs are harder to find. The effort that goes into a single DM post is much much more than what goes into a single player post. A DM is posting in response to all 6 (or however many) people in her game as well as all the NPCs to boot. So it's the equivalent of ten posts even though it's only one, assuming the DM is doing a major update. This is why it may look like I'm popping on ENWorld all the time but not posting a lot. Popping in to check on the games I'm in and posting to them takes much less energy and thought than doing even a single DM post to one of my games. I don't begrudge that at all, but it is more effort.

I swore to myself I would make sure my games didn't die, and I have successfully taken several games to an actual conclusion. I have had only one game I purposefully let go, and that was one I attempted to take over for a burnt-out DM. It was a mistake because I was trying to deal with the baggage from a very long-running campaign. The other games I had to put on permanent pause due to my job situation (long story of woe there, with much crying and moving and cursing and working 12-hour days).

While I have ideas for dozens of games that I would like to run, I know I can't keep up more than three realistically. I'm not in college anymore and I have a house that needs tending to and a job that must be done. When my fiance comes to visit I curtail my time even more, so I know I can't take on more games to avoid overstretching myself.

So... which ENWorld PbP games make it past their third month? Those with dedicated DMs that are not hard hit by real life. Some DMs have flaked out, but many more have been hit with hard drive meltdowns, internet connection issues, job problems, college classes, housing fiascos, marriage, or personal troubles of large magnitude. You just have to hope your DM is steadily employed, securely housed, with a good computer and steady connection, and is mostly sane. That may sound a little odd, but summing up the reasons I've heard for people leaving the PbP boards, that seems to be a winning combination. I think we need to set up a little "Save the DMs!" fund or something on PayPal...

Manzanita · Oct 20, 2006

I used to join an average of one game a month for the first year or so I played on these boards. My games died at about the same rate. Although it can be fun to create a new PC every month, I did tire of that grind. Now I almost never join a game in a non-persistant world. I currently play in only one game on this board, run by Endur, who is a exceptionally driven, dependable & capable DM. The rest of my games have migrated to persistant worlds like Living EnWorld or Living Eberron.

I DMed a campaign on the main boards, too. It lasted about 2 years, but by then I only had one original player left, & all the clues I'd dropped early on were now useless & bringing new players up to date had burned me out. I now DM in LEW & love it. I wish more people who start games as DMs on this board would give LEW or Living Eberron a try. DMing there is more collaberative & doesn't require a long term time committment. When you've finished your module, you let the players go, and they can find another DM. Also, I think DMs will find that there are a number of very reliable, long-term players on those persistant world boards as well.